Filipino finishes world’s largest jigsaw puzzle

THE WORLD’S largest puzzle, the “Double Retrospect,” is now on display at The Puzzle Mansion in Tagaytay City, Cavite. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE PUZZLE MANSION

SAN PEDRO, Laguna—Puzzle collector Gina Lacuna has achieved another “fascinating” feat by completing what has been described as the world’s largest jigsaw puzzle.

After 900 hours, the 61-year-old holder of a title for owning the world’s biggest puzzle collection, finished the 32,256-piece “Double Retrospect” at 3 p.m. on Wednesday.

The 214 x 76-inch jigsaw puzzle, based on a work by American 80’s pop artist Keith Haring, was Lacuna’s latest addition to her collection, now housed at the family’s The Puzzle Mansion in Tagaytay City, Cavite.

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“I enjoyed doing it. I also finished ahead of my target, which was September,” said Lacuna, in a phone interview on Thursday, from the family’s Tagaytay bed and breakfast.

The Puzzle Mansion has now become a tourist attraction and museum of Lacuna’s collection—1,030 jigsaw puzzles of various designs and sizes—that earned her the Guinness record title on Nov. 29, 2012.

Lacuna, a retired businesswoman from Manila, started doing the “Double Retrospect” on March 1 after she completed the 10,000-piece “Las Hilanderas,” considered the most difficult puzzle in the world, on Feb. 25.

“Most people [doing the “Double Retrospect”] work in groups. What’s fascinating was that this was done by a single person,” said Lacuna.

In an earlier interview, she said she would spend an average of three to four hours a day assembling puzzles and could complete at least 40 smaller sets in a week.

After completing the “Double Retrospect,” this passionate collector is moving on to her next target—to assemble Michaelangelo’s “The Creation of Adam,” which comes in a 13,500-piece set.

She also plans to launch a collection she would name “The Best of the Philippines” by having custom-made images of 20 popular Philippine sites, such as the Banaue Rice Terraces and Mayon Volcano, and set a new Guinness title in 2014 by beating her own record.

Lacuna believed puzzles are an effective form of brain exercise to prevent Alzheimer’s disease. Assembling puzzles is also being offered as therapy for cancer patients, she said.

Lacuna said she is currently organizing the Puzzle Club, a group of puzzle enthusiasts that is also involved in charity work.